MLA 2009: Mobile Reference

Mobile Reference: Service at the Point of Need
Frederick County Public Librarieswww.fcpl.org/mobile – slides up now, notes forthcomingDonny Frank-Rice, Systems Administrator
Team leader for mobile ref project
Started out as a grant-funded project, now part of everyday service model

promo video:

first PL in the state to offer

meet patrons where they are (physically)

grant to purchase handheld, light (< 2lbs) computers w/ wireless (Q1)

directional ?s – walk them to the spot – procedural ?s – ref ?s

rovers also have a lanyard with a communication device to talk to ref from wherever they have found a patron

piloted at central library, so started with a 7-member team, called for vols, got librarians of all different backgrounds – children’s, ref libs, branch staff, etc.

will start to train other staff to provide service

James Kelly, Branch Administrator

Frederick rural, but with growing population – 8 branches (3 are regional)

wanted to work smarter, provide faster, better service

reference is a service/action, not just a desk

based on model used by Orange County FL Library

grant state library and FCPL contribution

21 hours of mobile service per week (3 per team member)

installed wireless network dedicated solely to mobile reference

use Vocera Communications Badges – can locate staff by name, location or title (had trouble with walkie-talkie type communicators picking up local construction sites, truckers, etc) – this was developed for hospitals initially (privacy, security) – press a button and use voice commands to place a call

can call by specific person, get someone within a group (“librarian in charge” “radiologist”), can also do by location (“call person closest to reference desk”

give people a chance to see you, and see that they can approach you for help; eye contact, smile/nod;

people give overt signs (wave), wander around confusedly, scanning the room, headed to circ w/o books; standing in front of some equipment looking lost; library card out but not sure what to do

lib is observing people and being observable – visual cues that you can help; open stance, look like you are looking for someone to help; draw attention to self as staff person – adjust badge, light chores (but don’t look like involved in project)

offer assistance: are you finding what you need? is that working for you okay? i’m here if you need anything, good morning

use very welcoming behavior – put user at ease

people assess service based on how they feel they were treated

don’t hover, touch, broadcast – respect privacy

stay mobile! don’t get stuck with one person – show them how to do something and then let them do it; offer to check back in a few (and follow up if you do)

Thanks, I will do that. They didn’t mention that it was just a regular wireless network, sounded like it was something different.

They did talk briefly about how you could use other things like PDAs, but one of their goals was to make sure that the librarians providing roving reference were using something with an interface that was the same as their computers. They mostly talked about this from a standpoint of cutting down the training time for the librarians, and ease of use for things like the proprietary databases. But I think it’s also helpful for patrons to see you do something in the same environment in which they’d be doing it, so they can more easily replicate it later.